different between blemish vs immaculate

English

Etymology

From Middle English blemisshen, blemissen, from Old French blemiss-, stem of Old French blemir, blesmir (“make pale, injure, wound, bruise”) (French blêmir), from Old Frankish *blesmjan, *blasmijan (“to make pale”), from Old Frankish *blasmi (“pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“white, pale”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?el- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bles (“white spot”), German blass (“pale”), Old English ?blered (“bare, uncovered, bald, shaven”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bl?m??/
• Hyphenation: blem?ish

Noun

blemish (plural blemishes)

1. A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.
   • 1769, Oxford Standard Text, King James Bible, Leviticus, 22, xix,

     Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.

   • 1997, Jean Soler, 5: The Semiotics of Food in the Bible, Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik (editors), Food and Culture: A Reader, page 61,

     Any foot shape deviating from this model is conceived as a blemish, and the animal is unclean.

   • 2003, A. K. Forrest, Chapter 6: Surface Defect Detection on Ceramics, Mark Graves, Bruce Batchelor (editors), Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products, page 193,

     There are a very large number of types of blemish and the smallest blemish visible to a human can be surprisingly small, for example less than 10?m deep, which may be on the surface of a heavily embossed tile.
2. A moral defect; a character flaw.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Related terms

• blemished (adjective)
• blemishless
• blemishment

Translations

Verb

blemish (third-person singular simple present blemishes, present participle blemishing, simple past and past participle blemished)

1. To spoil the appearance of.
   • 2009, Michael A. Kirkman, Chapter 2: Global Markets fo Processed Potato Products, Jaspreet Singh, Lovedeep Kaur (editors), Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, page 40,

     Generally, varieties in current use for processing are resilient, if not wholly resistant to blemishing diseases and disorders.

   • 2011, Rob Imrie, Emma Street, Architectural Design and Regulation, unnumbered page,

     I mean it reaches a point of ridiculousness in some regards, and one?s seen actually many good schemes here in San Francisco, for example, that have been blemished by an overly strict adherence to codes.

2. To tarnish (reputation, character, etc.); to defame.
   • 1600, Francis Vere, Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service

     There had nothing passed betwixt us that might blemish reputation.

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English immaculat, from Latin immacul?tus; prefix im- (“not”) + macul?tus, perfect passive participle of macul? (“I spot, stain”), from macula (“spot”). See mail (armor).

Displaced native unwemmed (“pure, untainted”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mækj?l?t/

Adjective

immaculate (comparative more immaculate, superlative most immaculate)

1. Having no stain or blemish; spotless, undefiled, clear, clean, pure.
   • 1641, John Denham, The Sophy

     Were but my soul as pure From other guilt as that, Heaven did not hold One more immaculate
2. (zoology) Lacking spots, blotches, or other markings; spotless; unspotted.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Latin

Participle

immacul?te

1. vocative masculine singular of immacul?tus